Georgia Tech Football: Everything From Quarterbacks Haynes King and Aaron Philo After The White and Gold Game

King and Aaron Philo on what they will work on this summer 

HK: The main deal is when adversity happens and all that stuff, even though in your mind you might still be playing, you're still pushing it, it's just everybody looks at your body language.  So at certain times, you might be mad, upset, but your body language affects the people around you. So I'd say affecting the people around me positively on a consistent basis.  No matter if it's up, down, you always gotta be that type of energy bug. As long as you're just being yourself and not pressing and operating and doing what you're supposed to, everything is gonna happen just fine.

AP: “I would say it was evident today that I need to protect the football more. Whatever that goes, just making better decisions with the football in my hands and then just continuing to work on my motion, and I don't know, just throwing the ball.

King on how the wide receiver room performed today with so many guys out. 

“At times, it was a little bit rocky, just ups and downs. For sure, like I even said earlier, how do they respond? If you drop a ball early, are you gonna let it affect the next catch? Are you gonna let it affect the next play? Worrying about that, or are you just gonna move on and keep playing? Everybody knows that these guys can make plays from top to bottom. We see it every day, and we know these guys work hard. The amount of work and amount of time that they put in just to get better, whether it's mentally, physically, or just the whole thing.  We know they're gonna keep playing and they showcased that today. Just keep fighting and keep doing your job. 

King on the halfback pass to Jamal Haynes 

“I mean, we kinda had that set up a little bit and we had a walk through Friday. We're kind of going through the plays and just going through like situation, know, when the kickoff, this is going to happen. Swarm, group one, they're going to go out, stuff like that. When we were just doing the little script period, we kind of set that one up. One of our first plays was a little screen throw it out there. you know, Buster wanted to do that, just give Jamal a chance and, you know, let's have a little bit of fun. It's a spring game. 

On Jamal Haynes as a quarterback 

“He definitely has to work on the motion a little bit, the release, quicken that up a little bit. it wasn't bad, he got the job done. That's all that matters. What does it say? He got it completed, and Zion made a really good play and scored. So he got the job done, that's all that matters. 

Both on what they have seen from Coach Gideon and the defense this spring 

HK:  “I mean, they're always gonna play fast, rally to the football, and they're gonna tackle well.  Like you said, they're playing the ball much better right now. It gives us chances and it gives us opportunities just to see that and go against that every day, it challenges us. It's iron sharpens iron. It's just gonna make it so much better. 

AP: “Yeah, I would say, mean, them coming out here every day, they've had a really good spring, especially with learning the new defense. So I think they're playing a really high level of defensive football right now. They're rallying to the ball, a lot of guys, a lot of fast guys, and I think they're making plays out there. 

Both on who has stood out on the defensive side of the ball 

HK: “There are two guys who usually like standing out that give us problems each and every day. One is JJ Jordan Van Den Berg, just to have the kind of energy, the stuff that he plays with each and every day and each play. Getting that movement up front affects the quarterback, whether it's movement in the pocket in the middle. It's hard to move right, move left when the pocket collapses. So to have that stuff in your face, it'll mess with some of the throws. Amari Harvey on the back end does a really good job challenging us, not just as receiver-wise but as quarterbacks.  Just reading him, how to play him, and throw away from him, depending on the leverage that he's playing and stuff like that. 

AP: “Yeah, I would definitely say both of those guys and then two other guys that have stood out to me is Brayden Manley, the rusher. I feel like he's had a really good spring as well as number 16, Kelvin Hill.  I think he's going to be a really good player for us. 

King on the offensive line as a whole, and how they have improved this spring 

“For sure, but like you said, we got a lot of new faces. So we're finding different ways on how they're to jell and trying to put the best five guys out there. I feel like we have a pretty good idea of who that will be. Every day throughout the spring, they've gotten so much better.  Whether it's communicating,  picking up blitzes, run game, stunts,  but they've gotten a whole lot better and it's going to be really good.  

Philo on how his game has progressed after another year of being in the program 

“I would say just understanding the offense with, you know, early on, know, I might have tried to force some balls and I felt like I did a little bit of that today. I kind of reverted back to my old ways. I have to get back to how I felt like I was progressing really well throughout the spring. Not forcing the ball again to the next read, and then when you have to, just lay it off to the back. 

Additional Links

Georgia Tech Women's Basketball: Florida State Transfer Brianna Turnage Comes Home to Play for the Yellow Jackets

Georgia Tech Football: Three Big Takeaways From Yellow Jackets Spring Game

Everything From Georgia Tech Head Coach Brent Key After The Yellow Jackets' Spring Game